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The ClickTrust podcast
Why a low CAC can be a warning sign
Anvesha Poswalia started her career at Google and now runs digital marketing for Shemaroo's subscription business. With Sheoli Biswas she works through what changes when you move from the platform side to the brand side, why a ₹200 CAC can be worse than a ₹300 one, how to spot fake sign-ups and trial abuse before they poison your campaigns, and how a P&L owner judges the customers ad spend brings in.
Key takeaways
Six things to take from this episode.
In Anvesha's words, then the points behind them.
“You're paying and getting happy about a user that never existed.”
On fraud
“There is no balance. You want both.”
On volume versus quality
“Too good to be true is always a watch-out in marketing.”
On reading dashboards
- 01
Optimise the outcome, not the campaign
The platform side tunes bids, budgets and audiences. The brand side asks what the user did after converting, and what they're worth over a lifetime.
- 02
Three kinds of user
The one who never existed, the one with no intent, and the one who pays, engages and tells five friends. Only the last one is growth.
- 03
Read CAC next to ARPU
A ₹200 user who buys a ₹199 pack is worth less than a ₹300 user who buys ₹899. Low CAC is efficiency, not effectiveness.
- 04
Bad traffic trains the algorithm
Every low-intent user teaches the system to find more like them, and it compounds. Delete the cohort the moment you spot it.
- 05
Too good to be true? Check first
Prevent with tools, then watch for spikes with no change in strategy. Shemaroo has paused affiliates on that signal alone.
- 06
Own the P&L, judge CAC to LTV
Efficiency, then effectiveness, then profitability. Hindi content buys scale at a lower CAC; Gujarati buys loyalty at a higher one.
Speakers
Who you're listening to.
Host
Sheoli Biswas
Head of Marketing, ClickTrust · Host
Sheoli hosts The Signal, ClickTrust's conversations with the people who buy and measure paid media, on where fraud hides in the numbers and what to do about it.
Sheoli on LinkedIn
Guest
Anvesha Poswalia
Head of Digital Marketing, Shemaroo Entertainment
Anvesha has spent more than fifteen years at the intersection of consumer marketing and business. She started at Google, advising clients on digital marketing, then led marketing for L'Oréal, Asian Paints and Unilever, where she ran digital and e-commerce strategy for the home care business. She joined Shemaroo Entertainment as Head of Digital Marketing in September 2024, her first role in media, where she runs performance marketing for the ShemarooMe subscription business.
Anvesha on LinkedInMore episodes
Also on The Signal.
EP 02 · Coming soonEpisode 2 with CJ Mathews
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